The long and winding road: Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road

That picture sums up our riding this morning. Two spectacular stretches of narrow, twisty pavement.

We started on Iron Mountain Road. It begins at Mount Rushmore National Memorial and ends at Custer State Park. These are its vital stats:

• 17 MILES
• 314 CURVES
• 14 SWITCHBACKS
• 3 PIGTAILS
• 3 TUNNELS

A pigtail, also called a spiral bridge, or loop bridge, loops over its own road, allowing the road to climb rapidly. Here’s a picture of one.

We were rewarded with this view from the top.

Then we rode the Needles Highway, which has 5 single-lane tunnels over its 14 mile length. Opposing traffic take turns passing through them.

This road is named for the needle-like granite formations that poke up toward the sky along the way. The visual highlight of the ride was the Eye of the Needle formation, at the summit.

After all that scenery and technical riding, we lingered over our lunch at Hill City. It was cool when we set out from the hotel this morning. But by early afternoon, the clouds had burned off and it was time to remove a layer and open the vents on my jacket.

We rode the I90 back through Rapid City and on to Wall. After topping up our tanks and grabbing a quick drink, we entered Badlands National Park. While the park is vast (nearly a quarter million acres) the short scenic byway lets you sample the best of the varied topography: “sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires.”

It was close to six by the time we finished the Badlands loop. While we’d had another amazing day of riding, by the time we hit the evil Interstate 90 we were all ready to be off our bikes. So we took full advantage of the 75 MPH speed limit in getting back to our Holiday Inn Express.